


Going strong with the vampires, baby

by CJ_Tries



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Couch Cuddles, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Gen, Getting Together, Halloween, M/M, Trick or Treat: Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:13:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27307549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CJ_Tries/pseuds/CJ_Tries
Summary: Eddie and Buck are what they are, and Buck is okay with that. Until Hen has to go and ruin it all with her crazy ideas of more.Or, Buck learns a thing or two about making assumptions. On Halloween.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 282
Collections: Buddie Trick or Treat





	Going strong with the vampires, baby

**Author's Note:**

  * For [firstdegreefangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/firstdegreefangirl/gifts).



> I'm still pretty rusty in the writing department, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to try my hand at a gift exchange. So this is written for the lovely firstdegreefangirl. Hope you like it!
> 
> Title from Andrew McMahon's song Fire Escape, cause it sounded Halloween-y and I was listening to it while I wrote.
> 
> Happy Halloween!

Hen paused as she reached the top of the stairs to the loft, sighing as she took in the scene before her.

Buck and Eddie were lounging on the couch, in a display that could only be described as snuggling. Buck had his head leaning on Eddie’s shoulder, eyes drooping but staring blankly ahead. Eddie had his arm stretched out behind the other man, ostensibly leaning on the back of the couch, but really, it was an embrace.

They were _snuggling_. There was no denying it this time.

It wasn’t an unfamiliar sight, the two of them close together like that, especially at hour seventeen of a twenty four-hour shift at the firehouse. _Especially_ after the kind of call they’d responded to tonight.

Still, Hen had a hard time imagining how they’d consider their behaviour platonic at this point. She met Chimney's eyes where he sat on the recliner, and she saw her own look of disbelief reflected there. She shook her head and made her way over.

“Hey, boys. Anyone gonna try to get some sleep? The bunks are free.”

Eddie tore his gaze away from where he was watching Buck’s face long enough to glance up at her.

“Maybe in a few minutes. We're still a little wound up here, I think,” he said softly. By _we_ , Eddie obviously meant Buck, who for all of his apparent exhaustion was keeping his eyes stubbornly open and vacant. Tough calls always seemed to hit him hardest, especially when kids were involved. “Actually, I was thinking about putting on some tea. Anyone interested?”

At that, some life seemed to come back to Buck’s eyes, and he finally glanced up towards Eddie.

“Yeah, that sounds nice.”

Eddie glanced to Hen and Chim, who both shook their heads no, before moving to get up, but paused.

“Hey, Buck,” he said softly. “I’m just gonna go put on the kettle.”

“Hm?” The younger man looked up at him again, then seemed to remember himself, lifting his head and sitting back on his own. “Sorry, Eds.” He sighed, slumping back and finally closing his eyes.

Eddie just shook his head fondly and, right there, in front of everyone, leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on Buck’s forehead, before getting up and heading to the kitchen. Like it was something he did all the time.

Hen, who’d gone very still, looked to Chim for assistance and saw him wide-eyed, seemingly as startled by this development as she was. When she looked back to Buck, his eyes were open again, staring ahead with a little more life to them. She also caught a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

“Uhh, Buck?” she began hesitantly, perching on the footrest in front of him. “When…did that happen?”

Buck frowned at her.

“Happen? What happened?”

Chim leaned forward in his seat. “You and Eddie,” he said carefully, glancing to the kitchen where the man in question was obliviously pulling out two mugs from the cupboard. “When did you and Eddie become, you know, _you-and-Eddie_?”

“Wha..? Chim?” Buck blinked at them both, and Hen was starting to think he might be too sleepy for this conversation, but screw that. “We didn’t become anything, you guys.”

“Really?” she demanded. “So you guys just kiss each other now? As _friends_? And snuggle on the couch? And there are no non-platonic feelings whatsoever?” She really was doing her best to keep her voice down, but her tone was unrelenting.

Buck just swung his gaze to squint at her, the peaceful expression gone.

“Come on, Hen, you don’t have to be mean about it.” He shook his head and looked away.

“Mean? Buck, how am I being mean? I’m genuinely asking.”

“No, you’re not,” he sighed. “I get it, okay? Everyone knows, it’s obvious, I should stop being so pathetic.”

Chim tried to catch his eye. “Buck, man, what are you talking about? Pathetic?”

“I get that it’s lame, or whatever,” he went on, ignoring Chimney. “But if it doesn’t bother Eddie, why should I worry about hiding it? He’s still my friend, it doesn’t freak him out to know how I feel, and he’s good enough to be there for me anyway.”

“How…how _you_ feel? You mean just you?” Now she was lost. “You told him?”

“Come on, Hen, I didn’t have to tell him. He knows, everyone knows. But he’s still my friend, and he still lets me be in his and Christopher’s life, so that’s what matters.”

“ _Lets you_? Buck, you’re in his life. Are you saying you…don’t think he feels the same way?”

Buck finally looked at her again, only to roll his eyes.

“Now you’re just being cruel. I get it, okay? I’ll be less pathetic.”

“Buck,” Chimney cut in seriously. “If you’ve never told him, and he’s never turned you down, then what in the world makes you think he doesn’t feel the same way as you?”

“Please, Chim, I’m not delusional.”

Hen and Chim exchanged yet another glance, this one troubled.

“Buck,” she said softly, leaning forward. “What makes you think he couldn’t feel that way about you?” She took his hand from his lap, squeezing it softly. “How would that be delusional? Cause from where I’m sitting, that man is just as gone on you as you are on him, and I think everyone’s just waiting for the day you two finally admit it to each other.”

Slowly, Buck’s gaze rose to meet hers, the doubt there melting into something more calculating. She squeezed his hand again.

Before she could say anything else, Eddie was making his way back over to them, steaming mugs in hand.

“Here we go,” he said as he squeezed back between the couch and the foot rest, setting the mugs down. “Hey, Chim, why don’t you pick out a Halloween movie so Buck can continue his pop culture education? That usually knocks him right out.”

It took him a moment, but Chim eventually managed to swing his attention away from Buck to agree.

As they settled in to watch, Hen saw that thoughtful look on Buck’s face never left, even long after he’d dozed off on Eddie’s shoulder.

******

The following morning Buck followed Eddie into the older man’s house, watching as he flicked on a few lights. The sun was technically up, though not enough to illuminate the hallway as they shuffled sleepily inside, dropping their bags by the door.

Buck leaned against the wall, kicking off his shoes as he glanced around.

“When’s Chris back from Abuela’s?”

“She’s dropping him here a little after lunchtime so we can start getting him ready for trick-or-treating. Said we should get some rest until then.” Eddie eyed him. “I’m glad I didn’t let you drive home. You look dead on your feet, man.”

“Like you’re not?”

“Come on,” Eddie nudged him forward towards the living room. “We’ll put on the Discovery Channel and you can pretend to stay awake longer than the opening credits.”

Buck trudged forward to the couch, but paused as he eyed the cushions, Eddie’s words catching up with him.

“You want me to come? To bring him trick-or-treating?”

“Of course.” Eddie collapsed into the corner cushion, gathering a blanket and watching Buck expectantly. “You helped him with his costume. He’s been looking forward to it for weeks. You do want to come, don’t you?”

“Yeah, no, definitely,” Buck said, frowning as he settled in beside him and pulled the blanket over them both.

“Hey, you alright? I feel like you’ve been somewhere else all morning.”

At that, Buck took a deep breath and slowly turned to face him.

“Actually…” he began, trying to meet his eyes. They were sitting close together so they could both use the blanket, but for once Buck wished he could put a little space between them. “I think maybe there’s a conversation we need to have that I’ve sort of been avoiding, man.”

Because he was watching Eddie, it was impossible for Buck to miss how his face paled at his words.

“It’s nothing bad! I swear. I haven’t brought it up because…well, I guess I didn’t want to make you any more uncomfortable than I already have. And maybe I’m breaking our unwritten rule by saying it out loud, but—” He was rambling now, he could feel it, so he forced himself to slow down. “I think I should maybe get it out there, just this once. Clear the air, make sure we’re on the same page. And then I’ll never make you hear it again, okay?”

If possible, Eddie looked even more worried.

“Is this…do you need to take a step back? Are Chris and I—”

“No!” Buck’s shout seemed to startle them both. He lowered his voice. “No, that’s not it at all, Eddie. You guys are…honestly, the best part of my life. I never thought I’d get to be part of something like this, a real, actual family, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me.” He ran a hand over his face, leaning back against the cushions.

“But?” Eddie prompted.

“Just…Hen and Chim were saying some stuff earlier, and I know they were probably way off base, but it made me realize…Look,” he sighed, and met Eddie’s eyes squarely. “You know, right?”

“I…know?”

“About me. About—about how I feel. I know that you know, and it’s okay, and we don’t talk about it. And I’m grateful for that, honestly, and I’m so grateful it hasn’t scared you away or changed things. But I just, I guess I wanted to clarify that, that I—that _you_ —”

“How…you feel?”

Buck’s voice died suddenly, and all he could do was watch Eddie.

“Buck, how you feel about what?” When he got no answer, he pressed on. “About our family?”

_Our family_ , Buck’s mind echoed, realization starting to dawn, though he still couldn’t get his mouth to form any words.

“About…about me?” Eddie continued.

_He didn’t know_ , Buck realized, something like dread beginning to pool in his gut. _He didn’t know, and he thinks we’re a family, but now I just—_

“Buck, I really need you to say something here.”

He wasn’t sure what made him decide to blurt it out anyway, but maybe some part of Buck was just so tired of keeping the words in after all this time.

“Fuck, Eds, I’m in love with you, man.”

Eddie seemed to choke, eyes going impossibly wider. He stared at Buck for a beat, trying to gather his thoughts. Buck watched him back silently.

“ _‘Man’?_ ” he finally repeated, and Buck could swear there was a hint of a smile there. “That’s-is that supposed to be romantic?”

Buck was startled by his own bark of laughter, and some of the ice in his stomach seemed to thaw.

“I guess not, no.”

“And you, what, thought this wasn’t news to me? That I knew, and was okay with just ignoring it?” He shook his head and leaned back again staring ahead at the blank TV screen. “Geez, _man_ , so what did Hen and Chim have to say about this?”

“Uh, well,” Buck swallowed. “Basically, they thought I should maybe mention it to you, on the off chance you didn't actually know—” here Eddie snorted “—and I guess I decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to, like I said, clear the air, I guess.”

“Hm.”

“But anyway. Now you know, for real this time, and nothing has to change, okay? I could handle it before, and I can handle it now, so don’t worry about me feeling, like, rejected, or whatever.”

“Rejected? Why would you feel rejected?”

“Right? Exactly! That’s what I’m saying. I know you, and I know we’re, like, family, and you’re not some asshole who’s gonna start treating me differently just because you don’t feel the same way.”

They lapsed into what Buck believed to be a comfortable silence, both staring ahead, but then—

“Buck, I really can’t believe you right now.”

“Wh-what? Why?” 

Buck looked down when he felt a warm hand grasp his, watching as their fingers intertwined.

“I can’t believe I’m in love with such an idiot.”

A beat, and then his head whipped up to stare at his best friend.

“You’re—”

“Yes.”

“You mean—”

“Yes.”

“But—”

“Holy shit, Evan, _yes_. For like, _years_.” But he was starting to smile that little smile again.

Maybe it was the use of his name that finally got him, but slowly, Buck raised his free hand to Eddie’s face, staring as if he didn’t recognize it.

“So if I were to…” he began leaning forward as he spoke, until their foreheads were touching.

“ _Yes,_ ” Eddie said again, and closed the remaining distance between their lips.

******

The next night in Athena and Bobby’s backyard, once the kids had all come back in with their bags full of candy, everyone was settling into their seats outside as Bobby set up the movie projector.

Buck waited until Eddie was looking nice and comfortable in his bench seat before unceremoniously plopping down across his lap, laughing at the grunt his boyfriend let out.

“Jesus, man, maybe go a little easier on the candy?”

Christopher giggled at them from his spot up front with Denny and Harry, his plastic vampire fangs on full display.

“Sure, _man_ ,” Buck smirked. “Like you didn’t eat half of that entire pie Abuela left us.”

“Oh, come _on_ ,” Hen interrupted them, stepping out into the backyard and pointing at the scene they made. “Seriously? Guys, there is _no_ platonic explanation for this.”

Her outburst seemed to catch everyone’s attention, and Buck and Eddie turned to look at each other thoughtfully.

“Huh, you know what Eddie?” Buck pretended to say thoughtfully. “Maybe she’s on to something there. Do you think…?”

Eddie frowned at him, pretending to contemplate the idea. Everyone around them seemed to be holding their breath.

But then he shook his head.

“Nah, I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Hen’s groan of frustration broke them though, and they were both still laughing when Eddie finally pulled Buck into a kiss, that was decidedly _un_ platonic, for all of their friends to see.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!


End file.
